Dec 21st 2011 10:00AM
SAN FRANCISCO -- California's attorney general filed lawsuits against mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Tuesday, demanding that the companies that own some 60 percent of the state's mortgages respond to questions in a state investigation. Attorney General Kamala Harris, whose office filed the lawsuits in San... Continue Reading »
Sep 23rd 2011 1:40PM
WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae missed chances to catch law firms illegally signing foreclosure documents and its government overseer did not take the right steps to ensure Fannie was doing its job, according to a federal watchdog. The Federal Housing Finance Agency's inspector general said in a report Friday that Fannie... Continue Reading »
Aug 23rd 2010 12:20PM
Buried in the arcane pages of many homebuyers' contracts is a hidden fee with an equally esoteric name: private transfer fee covenants. Essentially, these cryptic addenda, which are still legal in more than 30 states, require payment to a third party every time the property changes hands. On average, these fees can average... Continue Reading »
Jul 16th 2010 4:45PM
While everyone discusses the likelihood that Fannie and Freddie were duped into buying subprime mortgages that didn't meet their investing criteria, we may finally get a definitive answer when banks answer the 64 subpoenas issued this week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The agency didn't release the names of the... Continue Reading »
Feb 1st 2010 12:00PM
Greedy appraisers, who put lofty valuations on properties to please lenders and line their pockets, played a large role in the housing bubble. And the fallout continues: On Jan. 29, a former Beverly Hills real estate appraiser was sentenced to three years in federal prison for her role in a multimillion-dollar scheme to... Continue Reading »
